1959-1960 Mercury Park Lane

The
1959-1960 Mercury Park Lane was as big as a "Big M" ever got, the last
remnant of Dearborn's overly ambitious mid-'50s expansion plan that also
produced jumbo Lincolns and the ill-timed Edsel. The platform was still unique
to Mercury, as in 1957-1958 (though once also planned for '59 Edsels), but
all-new, with husky styling, more massive proportions, and huge compound-curve windshields.

The Park
Lane
had all this, plus wider, new-design frames with longer wheelbases and lower
floorpans for vast interior space (abetted up front by a more compact dash).

The
new-for-'58
Park Lane
completely took over for the glitzy Turnpike Cruiser as the top-line series,
though all hardtops were now called Cruiser. Park Lanes again rode Merc's
longest wheelbase and carried the huge Lincoln 430 V-8 as standard.

A
four-barrel carb was featured for '59, but the '60 came with a two-barrel, a
faint gesture toward "economy" brought on by the '58 recession.
Styling was quieter both inside and out for 1960.

A
still-depressed medium-price market makes these pricey Park Lanes among the
rarest 1959-1960 Mercurys, though like so many contemporaries they've since
become coveted as big, bright, and brazen.

Not included here, but also worthy
of collector consideration, are the wood-look Colony Park wagons, trimmed to
Park Lane standards and the last of the pillarless big-Merc wagons first seen
for '57.